


take me swimming (in those ocean eyes)

by ironccap



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Disability, First Dates, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Prosthesis, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Swimming, Swimming Pools, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-18 12:17:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18699442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironccap/pseuds/ironccap
Summary: in which Steve asks Tony out to go swimming. And Tony loves swimming. He really does. He just hopes Steve's not going to freak out on seeing his metallic prosthetic where Tony's leg is supposed to be. Because yeah, he forgot to mention that to Steve.





	take me swimming (in those ocean eyes)

"He wants to take me swimming."

Tony stumbled into the dorm at 2 in the afternoon, nervously slamming his backpack on his bed, slumping down.

Rhodey, who wasn't phased by Tony's dramatic gestures anymore, quirked one of his eyebrows and looked up from his physics textbook.

"And that's bad... _because_?"

Tony was now sitting with his head in his hands, shuffling to get his shoes out. He tossed them to the side.

" _Because_! God, I'm so fucking stupid!"

He started pacing the dorm, pushing his hand through his hair in the process. It was a move he usually did when he was feeling very nervous.

"Tony, I don't get it. You literally love swimming.. What's going on.", Rhodey asked him.

"Okay, so. We were having a really good time, y'know. We were chatting about the upcoming finals and we went to that museum with all the statues of saxophones in different colors, and he looked so intrigued by it. Then he started talking about how he loves drawing, and art. Then he asked me what I liked to do. So I told him how much I love to swim. Then he asked me if I wanted to go swimming with him on Friday. So I said yes. Ofcourse I said yes. It's Steve _fucking_ Rogers"

Tony was rambling so fast, and again, Rhodey was used to it, so he could keep up pretty well. He put down his pencil.

"So.. You have a date? That's great, right?"

"No, Rhodey. It's not. He doesn't know."

Rhodey looked at him confused. "What do you mean, Tony? You're being so vague, c'mon."

Tony rolled his eyes and went over to where Rhodey was sitting. He went to sit on the rolling chair next to him. Slowly, he rolled up his jeans. He made a vague gesture to his prosthetic leg.

"Oh.", Rhodey finally realised it.

"Yeah.", Tony sighed.

"I thought you told him.", Rhodey said.

"Well. Guess I didnt."

“You should tell him, though.”, Rhodey said. Tony sighed heavily.

“I know. I know I should, but it just sucks. It just really sucks, you know. Always having to tell people. I wish I could just go on a date without having to fear for people rejecting me as soon as they find out I’m an amputee.”

“Tony. He’s not going to reject u. Have you seen how he looks at you? Please, that guy is all heart eyes around you.”

That made Tony stop his panicking for a split second, and he suddenly got this warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach. But no. Nope. He couldn’t start getting his hopes up. He shouldn’t.

“Tony. I’m serious. Just go on that date. Everything will be fine.”

 

-

  
Rhodey couldn't have been more wrong.

Everything was, in fact, not fine. Not at all.

Tony had told himself he could do this. It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. So, he had a disability? It didn’t matter. He was still Tony, right?

But then, when he was undressing and putting on his swim trunks, his heart was racing. He was so nervous.

“Tony?”, he heard Steve call out his name. “I’m done. I’m going to go already, because I really have to pee, and then I’ll wait for you in the pool. Uh, see you in a minute.”, he sounded nervous too. Why did he sound so nervous? Steve was literally perfect. He was the sweetest guy Tony had ever met in his life. He wasn’t going to screw up.

“Okay, I’m almost done.”, Tony breathed out. He heard Steve walk away and then he came out of his cabin himself. He quickly changed his prosthesis into the one that he used when he walked around the swimming pool, since his normal one could not withstand water. He went to the locker in which he was going to put all his stuff in, when he heard the gasp of a little girl.

“Mommy, look! That man has a weird leg.”, _ouch_.

“Shhh, Sarah. Don’t say that! C’mon, we’re going swimming.”, he heard the mother say. He turned towards them and he saw the look on the woman’s face, right before she turned around and forced her daughter to stop looking. The woman was looking at him with nothing but disgust and anger. It was the type of way you would look at someone who just slapped their kid, or who just pushed an old lady. Not the kind of look you’d give someone you didn’t even know. Not for something they couldn’t help but have. Tony didn’t ask to be born this way, for God’s sake!

He felt tears prick behind his eyes, and he quickly took all his stuff and went into the cabin again.

_Stupid_.

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t. It wasn’t fair. It was not. This always happened. People would always ruin his day with something like this.

When Tony was younger, he used to not really care about it. He would think people were jealous of his cool leg. God, he wished he could go back to that stage in his life. It would make things so much easier.

He was now full-on sobbing in his cabin, which was weird, because… He was used to this kind of thing happening. Sometimes, when he was really enjoying himself with friends, he basically forgot about his disability. Until some shit like this happened again, then he would be pulled back into the reality by people saying things, or looking, or pointing at him, confirming that, yes, he was different. Or ‘weird’. Or that he ‘didn’t belong in this society’. It was the message he always got, in different ways, but hurting all the same.

He hadn’t realised the knock on his door.

“Tony?”, it was Steve. Of course it was. He had just left him there in the swimming pool. How long had he been in this cabin? Fuck.

“Fuck, Tony. Are you okay? What’s wrong?”, Steve sounded worried now.

“I-I’m sorry, Steve. I thought I could do this but… I’m sorry.”

“Tony, what do you mean? I thought you loved swimming? Was this a bad idea?”, Steve sounded confused, but still worried as well.

“N-no. It was an amazing idea, Steve. And I do love swimming. It’s just… I…”, Tony sighed, “Can I explain this somewhere else.”, he was now fully aware that he was breaking down in a public space with echoing walls.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. I’ll get my clothes, and we’ll go to my car, okay?”, Steve asked. Tony just nodded, but when he realised Steve couldn’t see him, he quickly stuttered a ‘y-yeah, okay’.

Once they arrived at Steve's car, Tony quickly got in and put his head in his hands.

"Uuuggh. I'm s-so sorry, Steve. I r-ruined our date.", Tony felt that he was close to crying again.

"Tony. Tony, hey... Hey..", Steve tried to comfort him. "You didn't ruin anything. I'm just really, really confused about what happened."

He had to tell him.

He had to. It wasn't a big deal, right?

Right.

"I'll show you.", Tony said. He took a deep breath and started untying his shoes. A blush crept up Steve's neck. "T-tony, what..", Tony realised how this must look. He almost started to laugh.

"Damn, Steve. No... It's not what you think, jesus. With your filthy mind.", he teased. That was usually what he did to hide how anxious he was actually feeling. Steve got even redder than he already looked.

"Anyway... I just wanted to show you... this.", he started rolling up his jeans, revealing his metallic prosthetic leg under it. "...and I know that maybe you're surprised.. God, not even maybe... You're definitly surprised. Because. I should've told you this before, but I was scared, since people usually don't react well to me missing half a leg, and uh, i've, uh, lost people because they thought it was.. weird.. or.. something, and I get it if you want to... go now, too.. Because it always happens and... it's fine, really, i'm used to it. and wow, i'm rambling again, i'm sor-", he stopped mid-sentence when he felt Steve's hand on his cheek, wiping at a tear that had formed there. He hadn't even realised he was crying.

"Tony...", Steve whispered. Tony stared at the ground.

"Tony, look at me."

He did. He stared into Steve's ocean eyes. They were red rimmed.

Steve was close to crying? Oh, fuck.

"Tony. This doesn't change anything. God, you're so... beautiful. And it hurts me to hear how you think about yourself. Because you're literally the most perfect, amazing person that I have ever met. And I just... I wish you saw it too. This...", he reached out to Tony's metallic leg, gently tracing over the lines of his silver colored prosthetic "... This is part of who you are. It shows how strong you truly are, Tony. You've fought your battles. I can see that. You're worth so, so, so much more than you think. Please... believe me when I say that."

"I... I'm trying.. I really am, Steve. And god, this means so much to me. You're one of the first people ever that didn't stare, or look disgusted, when they saw my...", he sighed. "I just... I was just so scared... And then there was this lady, looking so...angry... She looked so angry at me, Steve. As if I had just cussed her out in front of the whole swimming pool."

"Maybe you should've done that. She sounds like she deserved it.", Steve interjected, a small smile forming on his face. His hand reached forward to wipe away at Tony's tear-stained cheeks again.

"I'm so proud of you, Tony. Do you know that?", he said. Tony raised an eyebrow.

"For what? Hiding my disability from you, fully well knowing that you were going to find out anyway, because we were literally going swimming?", Tony said, but he sounded less sad.

Steve rolled his eyes and smiled. He came a bit closer to Tony. "No. For... getting up every morning, and battling your demons. For being so strong."

"Steve, I am not strong, please-", Tony interjected, but Steve shook his head.

"Yes, Tony. You are."

Steve reached for Tony's hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Steve..-"

Steve's eyes lingered to Tony's mouth, and then they went back up to stare into Tony's big, brown doe eyes.

"Thank you.. For everything you just told me. It's...It means the world to me... and.. it's something that I actually... never really hear.. So it's hard for me to believe... But.. yeah...", Tony said, now becoming fully aware of how close they were sitting, and goddamn, he could literally hear his own heartbeat going crazy - or was it Steve's?

He let his eyes go over Steve's whole face, his blue eyes, his nose, his pink cheeks, his little freckles, and finally, his pink, soft lips. His gaze lingered there, and Steve must've seen it too.

"God, Steve. I really want to kiss you now.", Tony mumbled, and that's when Steve literally dove in first, crashing their lips together. And it was everything Tony could have ever dreamed of and more. Steve's lips were so soft. And his hands were in Tony's hear already, and the kiss started out so soft and gentle, and suddenly he felt Steve's tongue pushing at his lips, so he parted them, and it turned more heated in literal seconds, and he pulled at the strand hairs in Tony's neck, so Tony let out a soft moan into the kiss, and, and..-

And then they both had to pull away for air. Their lips plump and their cheeks flushed, they stared at each other. Then Steve's face broke out in a grin, asking, "So, uh, you wanna do that again, or you wanna go swimming with me?", and Tony just pulled him by his shirt again, peppering him with little kisses while mumbling, "why not both, huh. I've always wanted to kiss while being under the water, like they do in those movies."

Steve pulled away and grinned. "C'mon, let's go do that, then, babe."

-

It turned out that kissing under water wasn't as romantic as it sounded, because 1) they both accidentally swallowed a big gulp of chlorine filled water and ended up almost choking, which lead to 2) the lifeguard thinking they were drowning and 3) them having to explain that, no, they were in fact, fine, just fools that were drunk on this thing called 'love'.

 

_**fin**_. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading this fic. the idea for this fic started because of my own disability and struggles that i've faced myself, due to it. i know that it's not the same for everyone, but i wanted to try and put some of my own experiences into words, and i thought; why not write it like a fic? a message i have to all people struggling, be it with a disability, with your mental health, problems at home or at school, you're not alone in this. you matter, you are loved, and you deserve to be happy. 
> 
> (twitter: @ironccap)


End file.
